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Trump’s US forces bombed Venezuela and snatched its President. Trump illegally invades a sovereign nation. No declaration of war. No congressional approval. This was one corrupt regime attacking another corrupt regime. This was about oil. Donald Trump is a convicted felon, he is a mob boss running a super power. Trump lives in the past, this old white man, almost an octogenarian, thinks he can turn back the clock. The United States treating Central and South American nations with disdain is something that many thought belonged in the 20C. Latin America has been bedevilled by American corporate greed for centuries. You have heard the term ‘banana republics’, well, this is where it was coined.
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Project 2025 and Project Esther are right wing authoritarian blueprints for the disempowerment of progressive influence in the United States of America. Antisemitism has been weaponised by the Far Right as a witch hunt. This is a global campaign supported by the Trump regime and […]
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The last refuge of the incompetent is violence, to paraphrase a line attributed to Isaac Asimov. This truism is particularly apt for Donald J Trump and his regime in the United States. Busy stuffing up the world’s greatest economy, Trump and his cronies are now turning to violence to compensate. Venezuela is their first port of call, amid BS about attacking drug dealers, they are going after this nation’s oil. Venezuela has the world’s largest reserves of thick crude oil. The bully in the White House is picking on a weaker opponent, as bullies always do. You do not see Mister Trump taking on Vladimir Putin and Russia. This is despite the fact that Putin’s Russia is clearly the biggest villain in international terms. No, Trump and his kind pick on the weak, like undocumented immigrants in America.
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AI is coming for your job. As someone who has just been replaced by an automated program this is real, let me tell you. In light of this it is pertinent to remember that Australia punishes the unemployed economically. It is bipartisan policy of Australian governments to provide below the poverty line welfare payments to the unemployed. This has been going on for decades and is one of the reasons why we have a substantial number of older Australians living in poverty. These folk cannot afford to visit the dentist to get treatment because it is too expensive and dental is not included in Medicare. This in one of the wealthiest nations on earth.
The AFL has created a game that human bodies cannot actually cope with. How do we know this? Take a look at the number of soft tissue and knee injuries on the playing lists of AFL clubs. AFL a game unfit for human bodies. The evolution of the game has AFL players running at top speed, suddenly stopping, turning, twisting and being tackled. No bloody wonder that human joints and muscles cannot cope with the stress being applied to them under this kind of duress week in and week out. The physical conditioning experts employed by the clubs would know this but their well paid jobs encourage them to stay silent on this issue.
We use the terms Right and Left as shorthand for political persuasions. So, what are 8 things that mean you’re right wing? In the current climate, this is likely to indicate that this person shares exclusionary cultural attitudes, which could be categorised as racist, maybe white supremacist, supports the ‘trad wife’ gender positioning, doesn’t like much government regulation, is anti-immigration, and wants to pay as little tax as possible. Whereas those on the left may support socialism, which is more and better government regulation, wants to see greater respect for diversity in all its forms, an expansion of power sharing beyond the white male cohort, and wealth being taxed to create real equity among more of us.
Does anybody else find it ironic that a would-be-dictator is bragging about killing a dictator of another country? I am talking about President Trump, who tells Americans there should be no separation between church and state, and the theocratic leader of Iran, the late Ayatollah Khomeini. Donald Trump previously claimed to be worthy of the Nobel peace prize, as the war stopper par excellence. Hey, he has obviously moved on from this deeply held moral standpoint. Boredom is Trump’s greatest threat, it seems. Donald Trump is, without doubt, the biggest liar that the American presidency has ever seen. Therefore, his claims are as credible as the boy who cried wolf.
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I thought that it could be useful, in light of the apparent rise in the populist politics of grievance, to ask, so, what does it mean to be Australian? Anti-immigration is the flag waving vanguard theme of One Nation and the remnants of the Liberal party. Blame it on the immigrant appears number one on the political grievance charts downunder. Therefore, it provokes the question – what does it mean to be Australian? If it is not out-and-out racism, as those on the Right deny it to be, who, then, qualifies to be considered an acceptable Australian?
Culture Democracy Fresh Government Politics Power I thought that it could be useful, in light of the apparent rise in the populist politics of grievance, to ask, so, what does it mean to be Australian? Anti-immigration is the flag waving vanguard theme of One Nation and the remnants of the Liberal party. Blame it on the immigrant appears number one on the political grievance charts downunder. Therefore, it provokes the question – what does it mean to be Australian? If it is not out-and-out racism, as those on the Right deny it to be, who, then, qualifies to be considered an acceptable Australian?
Culture Democracy Fresh Government Politics Power
I thought that it could be useful, in light of the apparent rise in the populist politics of grievance, to ask, so, what does it mean to be Australian? Anti-immigration is the flag waving vanguard theme of One Nation and the remnants of the Liberal party. Blame it on the immigrant appears number one on the political grievance charts downunder. Therefore, it provokes the question – what does it mean to be Australian? If it is not out-and-out racism, as those on the Right deny it to be, who, then, qualifies to be considered an acceptable Australian?
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We have seen a spate of one-size-fits-all welfare payments and subsidies. You know, instead of governments helping the most needy they make stuff free for all. This is done for political purposes in attracting votes at elections. All this does is increase wealth inequality. Well off property owners should not be receiving government assistance in maintaining their lifestyles. This brings us to the Alan Kohler call for free childcare downunder. While I support the general idea, I question why wealthy Australians should qualify for these types of assistance. How about a carve out for those over a certain income and capital asset threshold? We need to reverse the widening wealth divide after decades of American style neoliberalism funnelling riches to a select few in Australia.
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Trump starts war with Iran in concert with Israel and vandalises the world economy. This irresponsible fool then passes the buck to America’s former allies, demanding they re-open the Strait of Hormuz. Nobody wants to follow the US into this mess of their own making. This is what you get when you elect a convicted felon and multiple bankrupt to the presidency. The stupidity of America is on full display. The greed and selfishness of Americans is up on the world stage for all to see. Listening to a lying, loud mouthed idiot is taking the United States and the world to the brink of collapse and destruction.
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We need an Inquiry into why LPG gas deals have been so financially bad for the nation as a whole. Why do the gas companies pay so little tax and royalties on the huge amounts of gas they export for enormous profits? When elected representatives are deaf to their constituents, you know something is wrong with our democracy. Polling has indicated that 75% of Australians support a 25% export tax on LPG gas. Yet, this federal Labor government has knocked back proposed legislation to make this happen.
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Since the 1980s the way big companies in the United States do business has poisoned the well for the rest of us. The sick American corporate culture ruthlessly focusses on shareholder returns in return for enriching the executive to obscene levels. Stock options and company stock buybacks have become key ingredients in the billionaire factory churning out the super wealthy. This manipulation of the fabric of how companies do business has come at the expense of other stake holders like employees, consumers and the nations where these corporations do business. Downsizing, outsourcing, and profit shifting are all means by which companies have increased profits, reduced costs and avoided paying their fair share of tax. At the same time, these actions have reduced community engagement and care in return for outlandish levels of wealth for a few at the expense of the many.
The AFL has created a game that human bodies cannot actually cope with. How do we know this? Take a look at the number of soft tissue and knee injuries on the playing lists of AFL clubs. AFL a game unfit for human bodies. The evolution of the game has AFL players running at top speed, suddenly stopping, turning, twisting and being tackled. No bloody wonder that human joints and muscles cannot cope with the stress being applied to them under this kind of duress week in and week out. The physical conditioning experts employed by the clubs would know this but their well paid jobs encourage them to stay silent on this issue.
In the land of billionaires and oligarchs did the wealthy really need another tax cut? You know at the beginning of the 1960s the top tax rate in the US was up there around 90%. It is now all the way down to 37%. Think about that for a few moments, a reduction close to 60%. That is a heck of a lot. Americans have been rewarding themselves at the top for 60 years with huge reductions in tax. Now, under Trump they are coming after social security and Medicaid for the poor and sick. You know where this is going to end, Social Darwinism and killing off the weak and the needy.
Something close to two thirds of surveyed Americans disapprove of the big bill that passed the senate. This bill takes from the poor and gives to the super rich by slashing Medicaid to fund tax cuts for billionaires. The US Republican lawmakers lack courage in the face of mob boss Trump and his MAGA machine. There is no place for individuals to stand up against stuff on behalf of their constituents in US politics anymore – the game has been rigged. Trump has corrupted the democratic process to deliver him the votes and the American people are the losers.
Canada is applying a digital service’s tax on US companies doing this kind of business in that country. This will raise billions, as they are making it retroactive. Australia needs to copy Canada’s digital service tax to get these companies to pay their fair share of tax downunder. This Canadian initiative will apply to Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and the usual suspects in the digital space. The reason that this is required is that these giant companies avoid paying tax by shifting profits to low tax nations like Ireland, the Cayman and Virgin Islands etc. plus, claiming expenses in higher tax places like Australia and Canada. It is a well known corporate rort exploiting loopholes in the tax systems of nations with legions of tax accountants employed by them.
Australians were never consulted over AUKUS it was orchestrated by former PM Scott Morrison without going to the people. This $368 billion bad deal for nuclear submarines with the US and Brits makes Australia dependent upon these nations for many decades to come. In a new world order where unreliable allies like Trump’s America prevail it is not a smart move to tie yourself down to another country. Anthony Albanese don’t suck up to Trump over AUKUS, the majority of Aussies do not support you on this. America has shown itself to be way outside of what we in Australia consider to be the acceptable standards of democratic behaviour and human rights.
It was a great effort, albeit ultimately unsuccessful, by Sydney against the Western Bulldogs at the SCG on Friday night. Accuracy costs Swans in epic duel with Dogs. The lack of it to be more precise cost the Sydney Swans the match. When a key forward cannot kick straight from right in front of goals, like Hayden McLean, to give your side a chance in the final minutes it is a crushing blow. He was not alone, however, as once again Sydney players blew easy opportunities for goals again and again throughout the game.
Hey folks, lowering the company tax rate is not going to stimulate investment and increased productivity. For a starter, companies are going to spend money on AI, which is going to mean less jobs and more unemployment. Yes, that can look good on productivity figures because less workers producing more stuff is what that graph is all about. It is not going to be so great for the retrenched workers, however, and don’t give me that crap about them getting re-employed elsewhere. This takes time and the data tells us that these workers never recover the level of income they were previously on. They will just be collateral economic damage on the way to a more productive economy.  Who cares about actual people when there is an economic data graph at stake?
The current shift to authoritarianism in the United States is not about folk with too little, but is being driven by those with too much wealth and power. The thing is that amassing wealth does not make you more amenable to sharing it, rather it has the opposite effect in many. People get very protective about their assets and wish ever greater control over things. A growing number of billionaires are driven by the desire to exert ever more influence and power over masses of people in America. It is disgusting really what we are witnessing in the US at the moment.
The ABC has reported that the Macquarie Group through its Next Payment’s ATMs is profiting from the black market tobacco trade in Australia. This multibillion dollar trade downunder is fuelling gang war slayings and making the nation a much more unsafe place. Macquarie bank raking in black market tobacco profits. Yet another loophole exists for criminals to launder their ill gotten gains in Australia – through private ATM machines. You get the strongest sense that authorities are not serious about stopping such things when they continue to allow flagrant violations by banks.
